THE Fir Park defender believes his endurance is down to what’s in his head as much as what's in his legs.

TOM HATELEY hasn’t missed a league game for Motherwell for the last three seasons – not bad for someone who didn’t believe he could make it in the game.

But the Fir Park defender believes his endurance is down to what’s in his head as much as what's in his legs.

Hateley saw a sports psychologist as a youth academy player at Reading. And ahead of Well’s Highlands trip he said: “I believe you need to be mentally strong to get anywhere in the game.

“If you’re playing at somewhere such as Celtic Park or in a cup tie you can’t get caught up in the occasion, you have to learn to control your emotions. If you look after that side of the game properly you have a chance.

“When we are at Ross County, Motherwell players need to avoid getting caught up in the emotions of the crowd.

“People think footballers just turn up on a Saturday and hope to play well but there’s a lot of mental preparation for every game.”

Hateley learned the importance of being switched on when he’d switched off the idea of being a professional in his teenage years and said: “Even though I was at Reading I didn’t have the belief I could go on to be a top player.

“My dad was always trying to drum it into me I was good enough but I trained every day with guys such as Kevin Doyle, who went on to the Premier League, and I started to doubt myself.

“But now I’m happy and settled and I’ve watched my game develop massively over the three seasons. I managed to play every game.”

Well’s SPL position took them into the Champions League qualifiers and their fans have raised the bar in terms of expectations. But Hateley added: “We have to put the second leg of our Panathinaikos tie out of our minds. County won’t be intimidated by anyone. Our job is to keep the crowd as quiet as we can.”